There's no better way to celebrate the passing of 30 years since Ian Livingstone's interactive Fighting Fantasy books burst onto the scene than by picking up the first Fighting Fantasy Android entry, Blood of the Zombies.

You read (utilising many of the skills you are demonstrating right now), make tough choices, fight via dice rolls, and die a lot, but this new Fighting Fantasy title is never less than compelling. Oh, and violent.

An epic action-RPG with an unabashed comic heart, The Bard's Tale is a cracking conversion of the 2004 console title.

Although we criticised the iOS version for its somewhat awkward touch controls, Android gamers can plug in a controller - or enjoy the Xperia Play-optimised version - to keep the witty banter and monster slaying flowing more smoothly.

After putting management sims to the side for a second and forging ahead into the role-playing realm with titles like Dungeon Village and Kairobotica, Kairosoft has now taken its solid RPG template into Pokemon territory.

If you're going to go head-to-head with Nintendo's legendary turn-based battler series, mind, you need to get the basics right.

Fortunately, Beastie Bay's mixture of exploration and creature collection is positively inspired, with only its slightly yawnsome scraps spoiling the magic.

Perhaps the most traditional RPG ever produced for smartphone - complete with a table for heroes and the Dungeon Master to sit around - Knights of Pen & Paper uses pixel art and zany characters to bring its adventure to life.

Part-parody, part-affectionate homage to the original Dungeons & Dragons, this is a straightforward turn-based battler (with lots of focus on grinding and levelling-up) that manages to feel fresh due to the knowing style and genre nods.

One of the standout titles from the PlayStation Mobile launch, Tikipod's tribute to Defender asks, 'what would happen if a cat was put in control of a submarine and tasked with fending off waves of robot attackers?'

To discover the answer, you'll need to spend some quality time with this old skool side-scrolling blaster, which boasts a sharp 16-bit look and a chiptune soundtrack that'll make the eyes of ageing gamers go all misty.